Value for money

You may already have a clothing budget, or perhaps my previous post has inspired you to set yourself a clothes allowance. Let's take a round figure and imagine that your budget is $1,200, £1,200 or in my case €1,200.  I know that the currencies don't relate to each other in this way (though at one time the pound and euro were on a par), however I'm using these figures to make the maths easier!

How are you going to manage your budget? Will you allow yourself €100 a month or maybe divide it by four so you have €300 for each season?  Perhaps you will start with your annual amount and reduce it every time you purchase something, in the hope that you don't run out of money by September! I imagine that most of us will be looking for good value for our money, but what does this really mean?  Take a look at the picture below:

If you look at the set I created in Polyvore by clicking on this link, you will see that the Michael Kors Tote costs €180, whereas you could buy the two tops, two pairs of trousers, bag and shoes from Zara for €183. What is your reaction to this? You may think "Wow! I can buy six items for the price of just one". Or perhaps you will look at the bag as an investment buy which will last you a lot longer. Which of these options in your opinion provides the best value for money?

I mentioned cost per wear in my previous post.  If you bought the tote and used it 360 days of the year the cost per use would be €0.50, however if you have another three or four bags and switch them around according to your outfit, the cost per use might work out at €1.50 or €2.00. 

How about the clothes from Zara?  You could create four different outfits using the items shown, but would you want to rotate only these four outfits over the course of the year?  If you did, the cost per wear would be around €0.50 for the whole group though obviously even less for each outfit.  

Does this make the Zara set better value for your money? At first glance you may think so, but you also need to consider how long these clothes will last, and whether they will look dated the following year and stay at the back of your wardrobe. The Michael Kors tote is a classic tote so should last you for many years, even if you are using it on a regular basis, so in my view that makes it the winner.